1. Technical Glossary
PIXEL & RESOLUTION –
Image resolution is the detail an image holds. The term applies to raster digital images, film images, and other
types of images. Higher resolution means more image detail.
VECTOR & RASTER IMAGES –
Vector graphics is the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and shapes or polygon(s),
which are all based on mathematical expressions, to represent images in computer graphics. "Vector", in this
context, implies more than a straight line.
FILE FORMATS & USES – bmp, png, gif, tiff, jpg, psd, psf, eps & ai
A file format is a standard way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file. A file format
specifies how bits are used to encode information in a digital storage medium. File formats may be either
proprietary or free and may be either unpublished or open
Digital cameras and web pages normally use JPG files - because JPG heroically compresses the data to be very
much smaller in the file. However JPG uses loss compression to accomplish this feat, which is a strong downside.
A smaller file, yes, there is nothing like JPG for small, but this is at the cost of image quality. This degree is
selectable (with an option setting named JPG Quality), to be lower quality smaller files, or to be higher quality
larger files. In general today, JPG is rather unique in this regard, using loss compression allowing very small files
of lower quality, whereas almost any other file type is lossless (and larger).
TIF is lossless (including LZW compression option), which is considered the highest quality format for commercial
work. The TIF format is not necessarily any "higher quality" per se (the image pixels are what they are), and most
formats other than JPG are lossless too. This simply means there are no additional losses or JPG artefacts to
degrade and detract from the original. And TIF is the most versatile, except that web pages don't show TIF files.
For other purposes however, TIF does most of anything you might want, from 1-bit to 48-bit colour, RGB, CMYK,
LAB, or Indexed colour. Most any of the "special" file types (for example, camera RAW files, fax files, or multipage
documents) are based on TIF format, but with unique proprietary data tags - making these incompatible unless
expected by their special software.
GIF was designed by CompuServe in the early days of computer 8-bit video, before JPG, for video display at dial
up modem speeds. GIF always uses lossless LZW compression, but it is always an indexed colour file (8-bits, 256
colours maximum), which is poor for 24-bit colour photos. Don't use indexed colour for colour photos today, the
colour is too limited. PNG and TIF files can also optionally handle the same indexed colour mode that GIF uses,
but they are more versatile with other choices too. But GIF is still very good for web graphics (i.e., with a limited
number of colours). For graphics of only a few colours, GIF can be much smaller than JPG, with more clear pure
colours than JPG). Indexed Colour is described at Colour Palettes
PNG can replace GIF today (web browsers show both), and PNG also offers many options of TIF too (indexed or
RGB, 1 to 48-bits, etc). PNG was invented more recently than the others, designed to bypass possible LZW
compression patent issues with GIF, and since it was more modern, it offers other options too (RGB color modes,
16 bits, etc). One additional feature of PNG is transparency for 24 bit RGB images. Normally PNG files are a little
smaller than LZW compression in TIF or GIF (all of these use lossless compression, of different types), but PNG is
perhaps slightly slower to read or write. That patent situation has gone away now, but PNG remains excellent.
Less used than TIF or JPG, but PNG is another good choice for lossless quality work.
Camera RAW files are very important of course, but RAW files must be processed to regular formats (JPG, TIF,
etc) to be viewable and usable in any way. However, the point is that RAW offers substantial benefit in doing
that. The debate goes on, some cannot imagine NOT taking advantage of the greater opportunities of RAW.
Others think any extra step is too much trouble, and are satisfied with JPG - my own biased opinion is they just
don't know yet.
2. COMPRESSION
The objective of image compression is to reduce irrelevance and redundancy of the image data in order to be able to store
or transmit data in an efficient form.Image compression may be lossy or lossless. Lossless compression is preferred for
archival purposes and often for medical imaging, technical drawings, clip art, or comics. This is because lossy compression
methods, especially when used at low bit rates, introduce compression artifacts. Lossy methods are especially suitable for
natural images such as photographs in applications where minor (sometimes imperceptible) loss of fidelity is acceptable to
achieve a substantial reduction in bit rate. The lossy compression that produces imperceptible differences may be called
visually lossless.
IMAGE CAPTURE DEVICES
The use of a device, such as a scanner or digital camera, to create a digital representation of an image. This digital
representation can then be stored and manipulated on a computer. The process of using devices such as digital cameras or
scanners to captureimages in a digitalformat. The resulting files are then further processed to arrive at a final image. This
can be done for videos as well.
OPTIMISING
Optimising means to make something perfect or effective as possible, to make the most of or can also be defined as a term
in computer science to increase the computing speed and efficiency of (a program), as by rewriting instructions. To
increase the computing speed and efficiency of (a program), as by rewriting instructions.
STORAGE & ASSET MANAGEMENT
Digital asset management (DAM) consists of management tasks and decisions surrounding the ingestion, annotation,
cataloguing, storage, retrieval and distribution of digital assets. Digital photographs, animations, videos and music
exemplify the target areas of media asset management (a sub-category of DAM).
